Daobin Du
Du Daobin is one of China's first online dissidents.[1][2]
Biography
[edit]The Chinese authorities arrested Du Daobin on October 28, 2003 for writing articles online advocating democracy and respect for human rights.[3] He was sentenced in 2004 to three years in prison, suspended for four years.[3]
In July 2008, Du was re-arrested; police declared that he had to serve the remaining two years and four months of his sentence in prison, apparently for "violating the terms of his sentence by publishing more than 100 articles on the Internet, leaving the city, and receiving guests without permission from the police".[4] Some attributed it to the world attention the 2008 Summer Olympics would bring to China.[3] Du was released from prison in 2010.[5]
Du Daobin v. Cisco Systems
[edit]In June 2011, Du Daobin, Zhou Yuanzhi, and Liu Xianbin filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland against Cisco Systems and a number of Cisco executives for their alleged "know[ledge] and willful aiding and abetting of the Chinese Communist Party's harassment, arrest, and torture of Chinese political activists".[6] Cisco responded to the lawsuit in a blog post June 6, 2011.[7]
On August 3, 2011, Du was detained by Chinese police and interrogated by senior officials from China's Ministry of Public Security. Du's interrogators warned him about his Internet activity and then demanded information about his role in Du v. Cisco, including the names of his American and Chinese contacts.[8]
The Federal District Court in Maryland dismissed Du Daobin v. Cisco Systems in February 2014. The Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized the decision, which "largely side-stepped the specific issue of when corporations can be held to account for building special technologies that are customized for repressive governments for the explicit purpose of tracking activists who then face human rights abuses like torture". Furthermore, citing the fact that U.S. laws allowed Cisco to export its products, the court maintained that it was precluded from providing judicial remedy to victims of China's human rights abuses. It also argued that "Cisco's involvement in human rights abuses in China was a 'political question'", even though "neither the U.S. nor the Chinese government objected to the case going forward", which is what usually happens when governments expect significant negative fallout for U.S. foreign policy.[9]
See also
[edit]- Censorship in China
- Golden Shield Project
- Human rights in China
- United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
References
[edit]- ^ Cai, Jiquan. "Prisoner Profile: Du Daobin" (PDF). Human Rights in China. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
- ^ "Who is Du Daobin?". Ward & Ward. 16 August 2011. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
- ^ a b c Mudie, Luisetta. "Dissident Jailed Ahead of Olympics". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on 2008-09-04. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Chinese Writer Du Daobin Re-Arrested as Crackdown Continues". PEN American Center. 21 July 2008. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
- ^ Asher, Moses (16 August 2011). "Cisco Sued By Chinese Political Prisoners Over 'Golden Shield'". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ^ Tennant, Don. "Second Lawsuit Accuses Cisco of Enabling China to Oppress Citizens". www.itbusinessedge.com. www.itbusinessedge.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
- ^ Chandler, Mark. "Cisco Supports Freedom of Expression, an Open Internet and Human Rights". Cisco. Cisco. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
- ^ Ward, Dan. "Du Daobin interrogated by Ministry of Public Security". Laogai Research Foundation. Archived from the original on August 3, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
- ^ Cindy Cohn; Rainey Reitman (27 February 2014). "Maryland Court Dismisses Landmark Case That Sought to Hold Cisco Responsible for Violating Human Rights". Deeplinks Blog. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
External links
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